Workpaper Template - Free?

[Austin_Cat]

Hello! Please forgive any ignorance in my question as this was my first year doing taxes as a sole proprietor. At my previous firm, we had a very intricate workpaper called an 'index' for individuals and it had links and ties to everything that would go on the Form 1040 line by line, for the most part in order matching the Form 1040. It had current year vs prior year and we kept them both as a backup for our work, an organized document to review in future periods, and for data validating double entry (enter all documents into the software and in exce and make sure they matchl). We then saved the excel doc to pdf and linked via an advanced adobe app every number on the first tab to its corresponding data entry (perhaps schedule C, E or 1, 2, and 3, - examples of the tabs) which was then linked to the documents the client submitted and combined into one big pdf file. There were tabs for the different schedules and they were linked to the main page. I don't need anything that is necessarily that fancy, but has anyone found a free template for this or have one you'd be willing to share? I can come up with one myself but surely there are templates? Thanks in advance!

[qbteachmt]

Which program are you using?

Intuit has some organizers.

https://accountants.intuit.com/support/en-us/help-article/tax-organizer/using-organizers-proseries-p...

https://accountants.intuit.com/support/en-us/help-article/print-file/printing-organizers-lacerte/L8M...

https://accountants.intuit.com/support/en-us/help-article/tax-organizer/create-pdf-organizers-procon...

Here's a comparison:

https://www.reddit.com/r/taxpros/comments/18q7dma/client_organizer_for_proconnect_compared_to/

[Austin_Cat]

Hey there thanks for answering. l am using Intuit Pro Connect. Tried to search that platform pretty thoroughly, did I miss it there? 

I'll check out the links, really appreciate it and anyone else please chime in if you have a bit.

[Austin_Cat]

Hi again, I think we are talking about different things. I don't mean the client questionairre, but an excel document that ties out to the software you are using. Did I miss something? 

[George4Tacks]

I think https://accountants.intuit.com/support/en-us/help-article/import-export-data-files/import-tax-data-s... is what you might be looking for. Map the various lines of a spreadsheet to the various lines in a Schedule C. Lots of work, in my opinion. I don't know if the time you spend doing this will carry the import maps to the next year. In a way I HOPE NOT. You add a line to the spread sheet and it gets missed? 

I open the schedule C and start doing the input.  Each line has +  when you click on it, to open up for detail.  That way I can look back later for an audit and "see" where I got the numbers. 

[sjrcpa]

@Austin_Cat  You should have stolen copied it before you left. 😉

[Austin_Cat]

Thanks @George4Tacks. That is very similar to what I'm referencing. I only worked at one CPA firm so perhaps this is not the norm. We also had 1 person preparing, a senior reviewing and then a partner reviewing again, so lots of things might have been 'extra.' I've been largely trying to forget that level of work, but the reason it came up is I am deciding whether it is worth it to amend a 2023 return, and was used to seeing numbers side by side for comparison that way. There are other ways to do it, I'm sure. If anyone knows how to compare an input 2023 as it was filed to a copy that is a potential 1040X through ProConnect, please do tell. Appreciate you all.

[Austin_Cat]

If I had a nickel for every time that crossed my mind..

Seems unethical though since they invented the spreadsheet. ha it's fun to dream

[qbteachmt]

Lacerte is the only product with an SDK that allows programming links, custom worksheets, etc. It's one of the things I did for my clients.